Filling machine



Nov. 21, 1933- J. M. SANDERS 1,935,997

FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 23, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 lA/VE/VTOR JAMES M. SANDERS- H/S HTTORNEX Nov. 21, 1933. J SANDERS 1,935,997

FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 23, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOI? JAMES M. SANDER Nov. 21, 1933. J D R 1,935,997

FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 23. 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 JAMES M. SANDERS.

21, 1933- J. M. SANDERS FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 25, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IIVVE'A/TO/R AMES M.

NOV. 21, 1933. J, SANDERS 1,935,997

FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 23, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 3 6 nvvsxvroa.

JAMES M. SANDE .s. 5 61x727 Patented Nov. 21, 1933 Nrro STATES ATENT OFFICE 0 7 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in filling or stuffing machines, wherein a plurality of containers to be stuffed are successively moved into engaging relation or connection with a stufling compartment, after a charge of the material to be stuffed has been compressed to the size of the container, within said compartment, and a plunger moves the compressed charge into said container, and the present invention consists in providing improved means for holding each container in a horizontal position while receiving the charge to facilitate proper packing, said means moving said container, during the stufling operation to a vertical or upright discharging position to prevent loss of contents during the filling and discharging of the container.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved filling machine having improved means for filling a container in a horizontal position and for moving the same during the stuffing or filling process to an upright or vertical discharging position to prevent loss of con-tents of said open container after the stuffing plunger has been removed therefrom.

A still further object is to provide a new and improved filling machine comprising what I term a right-angled cone rotatably and axially mounted at an angle of approximately forty-five degrees (45) in order to provide an upper horizontal filling position to facilitate moving a charge into a container, and a lower upright or vertical discharging position to facilitate removal of the open filled container from the machine without spilling itscontents.

A further object is to provide a new and improvedfilling machine having improved means for packing such loose commodities as fish, and

the like, into a compact charge'of proper size.

and quantity such as may be readily moved horizontally into a container, whereby exact requirements regarding weight or quantity of contents may be efliciently complied with.

A still further object is to provide new and improved means for moving a container from a horizontal filling to a vertical discharging position without transferring said container to a second instrumentality.

A still further object is to provide improved means for packing a predetermined charge of loose material, such as fish, or the like, into a form slightly smaller than the container into which it is to be received, whereby said container may be easily and readily packed.

I accomplish these and other objects by means of the improved device disclosed in the drawings forming a part of the present application wherein like characters of reference are used to designate similar parts throughout the specification and drawings, and in which- Fig: 1 is a vertical sectional view of the device;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the upper portion of the device disclosed in Fig. 1 of the drawings;

Fig. 3 is a partly broken plan view of Fig. 2, partly in section;

Fig. 4 is a broken vertical sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2 in the direction indicated, the same being a section partly continued in a conical plane indicated by the upper portion of the section line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a broken sectional detail taken on line 55 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a broken sectional view, developed on a flat plane, on line 6-6 of Fig. 2 of the drawings; and

Fig. 7 is a broken sectional view taken on line 7--7 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 is used to designate in general a suitable frame upon which is mounted an inclined shaft 2, preferably at an angle of substantially forty-five degrees. Rotatably' and axially mounted upon this shaft, is what I term a right-angled cone 3 providing an upper horizontal portion and a lower vertical portion, diametrically opposite, the purpose of which will hereinafter be more fully set forth.

The cone 3 is provided on its periphery with an annular flange 4 provided with a plurality of packing compartments 6, the forward ends of which are semi-circular, as at '7. Within each packing compartment 6 is slidably mounted what I term a packing block 8 provided a semicircular concavity 9 on its forward end, the concavities '7 and 9 cooperating during a certain period in the rotation of the cone 3, to produce a cylindrical bore through which passes a plunger 11' slidably mounted upon the periphery of the cone 3 and transversely to each packing compartment 6, as disclosed in Figs. 2, 4, 5 and '7 of the drawings.

Each packing compartment 6 is also provided with an outlet 11 controlled by a gate 12 having a circular opening 14 therein.

A carrier 16 is slidablymounted on a stem 17, opposite each opening 11 of the packing compartments, which stem is engaged by a cam surface .18, rigidly mounted upon the main frame 1, to

.moved into and out of the packing compartmove the carrier 16 and a container 19 thereon into engaging relation with the opening 11 and thereby into communication with its respective packing compartment 6, as disclosed in Figs. 2, 3, 5 and '7 of the drawings.

This container 19 may be delivered to the carrier 16 by any suitable mechanism, not shown, as it forms no part of the present invention, at preferably that portion of the machine shown at the top of Fig. 3 of the drawings.

Brackets 21 are carried on the inner surface of the cone 3 at regular intervals, one for each packing compartment, and pivotally mounted upon each bracket is a pair of bell crank levers. One lever 22 extends through a slot in the cone 3 and into its packing compartment 6 back of the packing block 8 slidably mounted therein and engages a pin 23 on said block, by means of which the same may be operated. The other end of said lever engages a groove 2 1 within a cam .member 26 rigidlymounted upon the-inclined shaft 2, as disclosed in Figs. land 2 of the drawings. A second bell crank lever 27 isalso pivotally mounted upon each bracket 21, one arm of which engages a pin 28 in its respective gate 12 of the adjacent packing compartment 6. The opposite end of each bell crank 27 engages a groove 29 within a cam member 31 rigidly connected to the main frame 1 of the machine.

A cam 32 is rigidly mounted upon the upper end of the rigid stationary shaft 2 and has a cam groove 33 which is engaged by rollers upon the stems 34 of the plungers 11, as disclosedv in Figs. 1, 2 and-3 of the drawings, by means of which arrangement the plungers 11 may be ments 6 as the cone 3 is rotated, in a manner hereinafter morefully set forth.

A circular stationary cover 36 .is rigidly secured to the main frame 1 in any suitable manner and covers the annular flange 4 of the cone 3. This cover 36'hasan opening 37 at its uppermost portion above which is arranged astationary feed hopper 38. Within the hopper 38 I. have provided an oscillating and reciprocating feeding fork 39 operating through a face plate or disc 41 and actuatedby a crank i2. anda gear train 43, in turn operated by a gear l4: rotatedby teeth 46 upon the edge of the cone 3, as disclosed in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings.

An arm 4:? may beattached to the upper portion of the rigid cam member 18 mounted upon the main frame 1 and also to the hopper, as disclosed in Fig. 1 of the drawings, in order to hold said hopper and the cover 36 in position. .A second arm 48, as disclosed in thelower portion of Fig. 1 of the drawings, also engages and supports the cover 36.

The cone 3 is also provided on its inner periphcry with a gear ring 51 engaged by a gear 52 on a shaft'53 which carries a spur gear 54in turn driven by a pinion 55. on a drive shaft 56 provided withtheusual driving pulleys 57, by means of which arrangement the cone 3 may be driven or rotated continuously.

.A suitable. table, indicated at 61 in Fig. 1 of the drawings, is located in the plane of the lowermost or discharge point reached by the container 19 after being filled, and a guard rail 62 is so positioned as to remove a filled container 19 from the carrier 16, and onto said table 61, as the cone 3 and carrier 16 thereon is rotated.

In operation, a container 19 is delivered onto a carrier 16, preferably at that portion of the machine shown at the upper end of the sheet in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the container 19 being fed by any suitable means, not shown, into the concaved, semicircular seat 20, adjacent each compartment 6. As the cone 3 is rotated, the end of the stem 17 of the carrier 16 is engaged by the cam surface 18, see Fig. 3, top portion, and the carrier and its container are moved by said cam surface 18, into engaging relation with the opening 11 of the adjacent packing compartment 6 as disclosed in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 7 of the drawings.

As the cone 3 continues to rotate, said packing compartment is carried to the uppermost, or horizontal, portion of the cone 3 with the container 19 lying upon its side or horizontal and parallel to the periphery or side of the cone 3. As the packing compartment 6 connects with the opening '37 below the hopper 38, material to be packed into the container 19 is fed downwardly into said compartment 6 by means of the forked feeding device 39 which is continually operated by the rotation of the cone 3 through the gears i3 and 44 as hereinbefore described.

Continued rotation of the cone 3 causes the .camgroove 29 tooperate the bell crank 27 and close the gate 12 over the outlet 11 of the com- ...than-.-the inside diameter of the container 19 so that the plunger 11, which is next operated by its stem 34 and cam groove 33 in the fixed cam 32, may easily move said packed charge horizontally into the container19, and after the bell crank. 27 again moves the gate to register the aperture or portl therein with the portion of the packing chamberfi through which the plunger 11' passes.

The. plunger 11' continues to move the charge slowly'and easily into the container 19 and with- .drawsfrcm'. said container a sufficient degreeto permit the release of said container during a half revolution of the cone 3 so that by the time the container is moved to the lower vertical or discharging side of the cone 3, as disclosed at thelower left hand corner of Figs. land 2 of the drawings, the said container has become packed, and released by the cam surface 18,111 a vertical discharging position.

As the cone rotates any portion of the charge within the. packing chamberfi which may project above the packing block 8 is readily severed by a suitable cutting blade 25 mounted upon each block.8, which blade 25 operates in conjunction with a single stationary cutting blade 30 mounted within the flange i and at the side of the opening 37 of the hopper 33.

It is obvious from the foregoing that I have provided a new and improved filling machine havingimproved means for filling a can or container with loose material while said container is in a horizontal position, to facilitate packing thereof without loss of material, and by the novel provision of the inclined cone carrying member 3 havingits upper side horizontal and lower side vertical, the said container may be moved, during the filling process, to a vertical position wh reby the same may be discharged by the intervention of the guard or removal rail 62 onto a discharge table 61, as disclosed in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Having thus described my invention what I its claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPat- -ent is 1. A filling machine comprising 'a right-angled cone rotatably mounted upon its axis and at an angle of substantially forty-five degrees to provide upper horizontal and lower vertical sides; means for continually rotating said cone upon its axis; a plurality of container engaging mechanisms arranged at regular intervals around the periphery of said cone; a plurality of container stuffing mechanisms on said cone and associated with said container engaging means; and means for actuating the stuffing and engaging means at the upper horizontal positions of said means and .for releasing the same at the lower vertical positions of said mechanisms as the said cone is rotated.

2. A filling machine comprising a right-angled cone axially rotatable at an angle of substantially forty-five degrees to provide upper horizontal and lower vertical portions on the periphcry of said cone; means for continually rotating said cone; a plurality of container stuning mechanisms arranged at regular intervals around said cone; a container engaging mechanism arranged opposite each stufiing mechanism and arranged to hold a container parallel to the side of the cone and inconnection with said stuffing mechanism; and means actuated by the rotation of said cone for operating the container engaging and stuffing mechanisms while traversing the upper and horizontal portions of said cone and for releasing the same while traversing the lower vertical portion of said cone whereby said container may be stuffed in a horizontal position and discharged in a vertical position.

3. A filling machine comprising a right-angled cone axially rotatable at an angle of substantially forty-five degrees to provide upper horizontal and lower vertical portions on the periphery of said cone; means for continually rotating said cone; a plurality of container stuffing mechanisms arranged at regular intervals around said cone; a container engaging mechanism arranged opposite each stuffing mechanism and arranged to hold a container parallel to the side of the cone and in connection with said stuffing mechanism; means actuated by the rotation of said cone for operating the container engaging and stuffing mechanisms while traversing the upper and horizontal portions of said cone and for releasing the same while traversing the lower vertical portion of said cone whereby said container may be stuffed in a horizontal position and j discharged in a vertical position; packing means ing a plurality of packing compartments arranged at r gular intervals around said periphery, each compartment having an outlet; a plunger slidably mounted within each compartment and of lesser diameter than said compartment; a packim block slidably mounted within each compartment; means actuated by the rotation of the cone for moving said block to reduce the diameter of said compartment and thereby pack contents of said compartment to the size 1 of said plunger; container engaging means adjacent each packing compartment for engaging a container and holding the same parallel to the periphery of said cone and in connection with the outlet of said compartment; and means actuated by rotation of said cone for actuating each packing block to compress a charge within its adjacent compartment; means actuated by rotation of said cone for moving the container engaging mechanism and a container into engaging relation with theoutlet of each compartment before it reaches a top horizontal position on said cone and for releasing said container from said outlet before said containerreaches the lower vertical periphery of said cone; and means actuated by rotation of said cone for operating each plunger to move the packed charge from the compartment through the outlet and into the container while said container is moving from upper horizontal to lower vertical and discharging position.

5. Afilling machine comprising a right-angled cone axially rotatable at'an angle of substantially forty-five degrees to provide upper horizontal and lower vertical diametrically opposite portions on the periphery of said cone, and having a plurality of packing compartments arranged at regular intervals around said periphery, each compartment having an outlet; a plunger slidably mounted within each compartment and of lesser diameter than said compartment; a packing block slidably mounted within each compartment; means actuated by the rotation of the cone for moving said block to reduce the diameter of said compartment and thereby pack contents of said compartment to the size of said plunger; container engaging means adjacent each packing compartment for engaging a container and holding the same parallel to the periphery of said cone and in connection with the outlet of said compartment; means actuated by rotation of said cone for actuating each packing block to compress a charge Within its adjacent compartment; means actuated by rotation of said cone for moving the container engaging mechanism and a container into engaging relation with the outlet of each compartment before it reaches a top horizontal position on said cone and for releasing said container from said outlet before said container reaches the lower vertical periphery of said cone; means actuated by rotation of said cone for operating each plunger to move the packed charge from the compartment through the outlet and into the container while said container is moving from upper horizontal to lower vertical and discharging position; an apertured gate slidably mounted adjacent each stufiing compartment to open and close the outlet thereof; and means actuated by the rotation of the cone for moving said gate to close said outlet while the packing block is operating and to move said gate to open said outlet while said plunger is operating.

6. A filling machine comprising a right-angled cone axially rotatable at an angle of substantially forty-five degrees to provide upper horizontal and lower vertical diametrically opposite portions on the periphery of said cone, and having a plurality of packing compartments arranged at regular intervals around said periphery, each compartment having an outlet; a plunger slidably mounted within each compartment and of lesser diameter than said compartment; a packing block slidably mounted within each compartment; means actuated by the rotation of the cone for moving said block to reduce the diameter of said compartment and thereby pack contents of said compartment to the size of said plunger; container engaging means adjacent each packing compartment for engaging a container and holdingthe same parallel to the periphery of said cone and in connection with the outlet of said compartment; means actuated by rotation of said cone for actuating each packing block to compress a charge within its adjacent compartment; means actuated by rotation of said cone for moving the container engaging mechanism and a container into engaging relation with the outlet of each compartment before it reaches a top horizontal position on said cone and for releasing said container from said outlet before said container reaches the lower vertical periphery of said cone; means actuated by rotation of said cone for operating each plunger to move the packed charge from the compartment through the outlet and into the container while said container is moving from upper horizontal to lower vertical and discharging position; a stationary feed hopper arranged above the upper horizontal portion of the cone to feed loose material into each compartment as it passes said hopper; and feeding means mounted within said hopper and actuated by-rotation of said cone, whereby material may be fed into said compartments only while said cone is rotating.

'7. A filling machine comprising a right-angled cone axially rotatable at an angle of substantially forty-five degrees to provide upper horizontal and lower vertical diametrically opposite portions on the periphery of said cone, and having a plurality of packing compartments arranged at regular intervals around said periphcry, each compartment having an outlet; a plunger slidably mounted within each compartment and of lesser diameter than said compartment; a packing block slidably mounted within each compartment; means actuated by the rotation of the cone for moving said block to reduce the diameter of saidcompartment and thereby pack contents of said compartment to the size of said plunger; container engaging means adjacent each packing compartment for engaging a container and holding the same parallel to the periphery of said cone and in connection with the outlet of said compartment; means actuated by rotation of said cone for actuating each packing block to compress a charge within its adjacent compartment; means actuated by rotation of said cone for moving the container engaging mechanism and a container into engaging relation With the outlet of each compartment before it reaches a top horizontal position on said cone and for releasing said container from said outlet before said container reaches the lower vertical periphery of said cone; means actuated by rotation of said cone for operating each plunger to move the packed charge from the compartment through the outlet and into the container while said container is moving from upper horizontal to lower vertical and discharging position; a stationary feed hopper arranged above the upper horizontal portion of the cone to feed loose material into each compartment as it passes said hopper; feeding means mounted within said hopper and actuated by rotation of said cone, whereby material may be fed into said compartments only while said cone is rotating; and means for constantly rotating said cone whereby the process of feeding, packing and filling of said containers may be continuous.

JAMES M. SANDERS. 

